This invention relates to fishing line systems and fishing rigs. Specifically, the present invention relates to a fishing lure attachment device that allows the fastening of two or more fishing lures to a downrigger system.
The pursuit of certain types of game fish, such as salmon and trout, has resulted in the development of a technique employing the use of a downrigger device, which is a releasable weight system that allows a fishing rig to be accurately positioned at a particular depth during a trolling operation. In the typical downrigger setup, a fish striking the fishing rig causes tension to be exerted on the fishing line, thereby releasing the line from the downrigger weight, allowing the fisherman to boat his catch. It is important for the downrigger to remain attached to the fishing rig until the time the fish strikes in order to insure the fishing rig stays at the proper depth.
One of the reasons why downriggers have become popular is the increasing use of sonar, or "fish finder", devices that allow a fisherman to determine the location and depth of a school of game fish. By using a downrigger, the fisherman is assured that the lure is going to be presented somewhat in the vicinity of the located fish.
Until now fishermen generally have employed a single fishing rig with a downrigger system, in order to ensure positive disengagement of the downrigger when a fish strikes the lure. While deploying additional fishing rigs at different positions along the same line would increase the fisherman's chance of a bite, this has previously been impractical because the distance of a second or a third rig from the downrigger weight would be too great for the pull of a fish striking the lure to cause the primary fishing line to disengage from the downrigger weight.
With the above in mind, it is an object of the present invention to provide a means for attaching an additional fishing rig to a fishing line in a manner that is still compatible with the use of a downrigger system.